India’s stalwart batter Virat Kohli’s weakness was exposed once again as his horror run against left-arm orthodox spinners continued. In the Asia Cup 2023 Super Four encounter against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, young spinner Dunith Wellalage didn’t let Kohli feel easy on the same pitch on which he struck a century just a night before.
Kohli made an attempt to flick a short-length delivery which gripped the surface. The lack of control brought Kohli’s end as the ball landed straight into the hands of skipper Dasun Shanaka. Wellalage dismissing Kohli was just another reminder of his rough patch against the left-arm orthodox in the ODI format since 2021.
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After facing 159 deliveries, the Indian batter has scored 104 runs at an average of 13 and a strike rate of 65.4. The shot to which he fell on Tuesday was reminiscent of his manner of dismissals on previous eight occasions to left-arm spin.
Kohli, however, wasn’t Wellalage’s sole victim of the night. The 20-year-old spinner secured his maiden 5-wicket haul, single-handedly dismantling a formidable Indian batting lineup and bagging the prized wickets of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya.
He provided Sri Lanka with much-needed breakthroughs, dismissing Shubman Gill for 19. Gill got completely bamboozled by the spin as the ball rattled his off-stump. After picking up Kohli’s wicket, Wellalage struck thrice more.
Skipper Rohit was bamboozled by a ripper from the left-armer and ended up getting clean-bowled for 53. He bagged his fourth wicket of the match after removing KL Rahul and brought up his maiden five-wicket haul after scalping all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
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